Sustainable Recycling of Silicon Solar Modules

硅太阳能电池组件的可持续回收

• 批准号: 1904544
• 负责人: Meng Tao
• 金额: $ 30.9万
• 依托单位: Arizona State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-06-01 至 2022-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1904544&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Sustainable; Recycling; Silicon; Solar; Modules

A major obstacle on the horizon for sustainable solar technologies is life-cycle management of solar modules. As module deployment expands rapidly, so will module wastes. The International Renewable Energy Agency estimates that end-of-life modules will total 78 million metric tons by 2050. With a successful project, the proposed recycling technology will become technically scalable, financially profitable, and environmentally sustainable for terawatt-scale deployment of silicon modules. The project lays down the technical foundation for a new recycling industry projected to be worth billions of dollars by 2050. The investigators have already demonstrated a two-step recycling process to extract all the valuable, bulky, and toxic materials from silicon modules including solar-grade silicon, silver, aluminum, glass, lead, copper, and tin. In this project, the researchers will: 1) develop a more simplified recycling process than the one already demonstrated; 2) improve the silver recovery rate to over 95%; 3) identify a low-cost anode for metal recovery by electrowinning; 4) verify that the recovered silicon meets the specifications of solar-grade silicon; 5) modify the recycling process for new commercial silicon solar cells; 6) explore a solar module backsheet reclamation process, and 7) dissolve the ethylene vinyl acetate layer in sodium hydroxide. What differentiates the proposed recycling technology is that it maximizes the revenue from recycling by recovering all the valuable, bulky, and toxic materials in silicon modules. These materials are raw materials to the solar industry worth $12.43/module today. The current recycling process recovers only the bulky materials worth $3.42/module, which is far below the actual cost of recycling. The proposed technology is targeted to enable profitable recycling.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

可持续太阳能技术面临的一个主要障碍是太阳能组件的生命周期管理。随着模块部署的迅速扩展，模块浪费也会随之增加。国际可再生能源机构估计，到2050年，报废模块的总量将达到7800万吨。随着项目的成功，拟议的回收技术将在技术上可扩展，经济上有利可图，环境上可持续，可用于太瓦规模的硅模块部署。该项目为预计到2050年价值数十亿美元的新回收产业奠定了技术基础。研究人员已经演示了一个两步回收过程，从硅模块中提取所有有价值的、笨重的和有毒的材料，包括太阳级硅、银、铝、玻璃、铅、铜和锡。在这个项目中，研究人员将：1)开发一个比已经演示的更简化的回收过程；2)提高银回收率至95%以上；3)确定电积回收金属的低成本阳极；4)验证回收的硅符合太阳能级硅的规格；5)改进新型商用硅太阳能电池的回收工艺；6)探索太阳能组件背板回收工艺；7)将醋酸乙烯酯层溶解在氢氧化钠中。所提出的回收技术的不同之处在于，它通过回收硅模块中所有有价值的、笨重的和有毒的材料，使回收收入最大化。这些材料是太阳能产业的原材料，如今每个组件价值12.43美元。目前的回收工艺只能回收价值3.42美元/模块的大块材料，远远低于回收的实际成本。拟议的技术旨在实现有利可图的回收利用。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

项目成果

Commentary on Technoeconomic Analysis of High-Value, Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Module Recycling Processes [Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 238 (2022) 111592]

高价值晶体硅光伏组件回收工艺技术经济分析评述【太阳能材料与太阳能电池238（2022）111592】

• DOI: 10.1016/j.solmat.2022.111677
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells
• 影响因子: 6.9
• 作者: Tao, M.;Click, N.;Ricci, L.
• 通讯作者: Ricci, L.

Technologies for Profitable Recycling of Si Modules

硅模块盈利回收技术

• 发表时间: 2019
• 期刊: Proceedings of 29th International Photovoltaic Science and Engineering Conference
• 作者: Tao, C;Huang, WH;Zhou, Z;Lyu, R;Ricci, L;Tezak, C;Jaubert, JN;Tao, M
• 通讯作者: Tao, M

Technologies to Improve the Profitability of Silicon PV Module Recycling

提高硅光伏组件回收盈利能力的技术

• DOI: 10.23919/am-fpd52126.2021.9499168
• 发表时间: 2021
• 期刊: 28th International Workshop on Active-Matrix Flatpanel Displays and Devices (AM-FPD
• 作者: Tao, Meng

Review—Research Needs for Photovoltaics in the 21st Century

回顾——21世纪光伏发电的研究需求

• DOI: 10.1149/2162-8777/abd377
• 发表时间: 2020
• 期刊: ECS Journal of Solid State Science and Technology
• 影响因子: 2.2
• 作者: Tao, Meng;Hamada, Hiroki;Druffel, Thad;Lee, Jae-Joon;Rajeshwar, Krishnan
• 通讯作者: Rajeshwar, Krishnan

Major challenges and opportunities in silicon solar module recycling

硅太阳能组件回收的主要挑战和机遇

• DOI: 10.1002/pip.3316
• 发表时间: 2020
• 期刊: Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications
• 作者: Tao, Meng;Fthenakis, Vasilis;Ebin, Burcak;Steenari, Britt‐Marie;Butler, Evelyn;Sinha, Parikhit;Corkish, Richard;Wambach, Karsten;Simon, Ethan S.
• 通讯作者: Simon, Ethan S.